Pages

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Art of Reading Aloud

This week I attended a program at the DePaul Institute called The Art of Reading Aloud, Reading Skill Development through Literature. As always, the people at DePaul put on a great event open to all parents/grandparents of kids with hearing loss, not just DePaul families.

A hearty amount of the discussion dealt with building reading comprehension skills. As parents, we should be asking questions to make sure our little ones are understanding what is read. I've been surprised since working through 90 of Julia's reading lessons (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons) how well she can answer questions based on her own reading of simple stories.

When I read to her, it's a challenge for me to think of questions to ask that will help her get to a higher level of thinking about more complex stories. This workshop has made me aware of the times I read without really knowing if she's paying attention.

Now I've been armed with a list of questions to help her uncover deeper meaning and help her draw on her own experiences to understand the story. I'm interested to ask her how she'd have ended some of her favorite stories if she was the author. We're sure to uncover some big ideas and hopefully she's well on the way to becoming a strong reader. I'm really anxious about conquering spelling, but that's a battle for another day!

A list of the free programs available for parents at the DePaul Institute is available on my resource page. I highly recommend finding workshops like these in your area. They really help you to think about the time you spend interacting with your child in a productive way. Every story and even every household sound is an opportunity for auditory growth.